Chapter 6
Warning: I do not own Spider-Man, nor this Story.
This story deserves to be available to readers to read, apologies for format if there is problem with the lines and sentences as it was pulled from a PDF.
6. Shut Up Already
(Since barely anybody did the lyric/reference hunting for the last chapter, we'll just scrap that from now on.)
Draconic King, nice idea, but I feel like giving Felicia her own symbiote wouldn't fit the story as I already have the whole storyline planned out, and, Spawn Hades, yes, this was originally goimg to be a three-way between Cindy Moon, Peter Parker snd Felicia Hardy* , but plans have changed* *. And NOnormal99, and everybody else who waited restlessly, sorry for the delay in updates; I've had a lot of homework to do in the summer, and I've been on holiday so I wasn't very active with fanfiction, and I know it's been around two months, but I've finally completed chapter six. Enjoy the sixth chapter, "Shut Up Already." Thanks for reading. :)*
- Summary -*
10 years after the bite, and he was reunited with the symbiote. He was separated from MJ, but he'd found another woman to lean on. With his newfound strength, he was ruthless; unstoppable even. It was too perfect to last when an old foe crept back, back and better than ever. All was not as it seemed with our hero. He was back in black, but not for long. -SpiderCat/SpiderSable-MA*
Shut Up Already*
- Unknown Location - 08:04AM -
"Yeah, boss. He buys it. All of it," a female voice spoke from the shadows of the room, unseen and in stealth. Soon after, the armchair metres ahead of her creaked as it slowly spun around, and the male figure placed his elbows on the desk he was sitting behind and put down his gadgets. He put his fingers together, and grew a sinister, white, toothy smile, which stood out on his scarred, burnt face, which looked damaged from an explosion.
"Well done. Soon, you and I will see him dead, for what he has done to you, and of course, me. His head will make a fine trophy in the back of my room," the figure spoke in a cold voice in the distance, as he stood up and turned his back to his employee, "Send him in. He'll get the payment once he's completed the mission successfully."
MEANWHILE*
- Horizon Labs - 08:04AM -
Peter groaned and squeezed the paper in his hands as he walked through the hall, crushing the newspaper. He scrunched it up into a ball as the papers ruffled, then threw it straight into the bin outside the office he worked in.
DAILY BUGLE*
SPIDERMAN AND BLACK CAT* * WANTED IN POLICE* _CUSTODY* , the headline read.
The image to go with it was that of the rubble of the destroyed OsCorp.
"Picture taken by: Joseph Katzenburg" Who even is that?
"SpiderMan and his partner, the Black Cat, was caught fleeing the scene after destroying the Osborns' final legacy, which is currently being cleared off-site."
He sighed.
"L. Thompson Lincoln - Found deceased."
Peter spoke, "So much for endurance…"
He walked into his office, trying to hide the rage and annoyance he felt. He exhaled hard out of his nose as he slumped into his chair, slamming his head into the desk in front of him, so hard that he gave himself concussions, and he remained there staying in that pose for a few moments.
He mumbled under his breath, "Oh, for fuck sakes. Now the whole city's turned against us…"
Black replied in his head, "Do not worry. It is not as if we need the city's support… We do not need the city at all…"
Peter was suddenly surprised by the symbiote's words, but he tried not to think about it knowing that it shared his thoughts. He logged on to the computer, trying to let his work take his mind off of things. He digitally designed blueprints for new tech and worked on it for hours.
Sometime later, he was broken from his work state when he heard the lock of his office door beep and unlock, and he looked over his shoulder, and to his surprise, his boss was standing at the open door with a key-card in hand. Peter paused on his work for a minute then spun round on his chair, getting up to go and greet his employer.
"Peter," Max begun, "Come with me to my office… we need to talk…"
Without replying, Peter walked with him to their destination. Once they reached the office, Peter silently took a seat opposite Max, sensing the tension. There was silence for a few seconds, but it was finally broken when Max spoke his words, which Peter Parker could not believe he just heard come out of his employer's mouth.
"Peter…" he said, "You're fired…"
"What?!" Peter replied, as if to clarify whether or not what he just heard was a figment of his imagination.
Max sighed, speaking, "I'm sorry, Peter. But you're fired."
Peter froze and his eyes widened, his mouth open in shock. "But… But what have I done? I didn't do anything!"
His employer shook his head, then said softly, "I know. You didn't do anything. But it did."
Peter then replied with question and annoyance in his voice, " It? "
Max made full eye-contact with him now, then spoke, "It. There were eye-witness reports of… Venom… back in New York. A big, black monster with a whipping tongue and pointy teeth, with a big, white spider emblem on his torso. Venom. Terrorising criminals, biting off their heads, snapping their necks, completely brutalising them. And the victims left alive were either jailed, or hospitalised with serious injuries. But no, Eddie Brock , was Anti-Venom now. And Mac Gargan? Well, you locked him up a few weeks back. And then I remembered… we kept the symbiote here. In Horizon Labs. And look what surprised me when I checked the safe in your spider-lab. And half of New York have already seen SpiderMan back in black… and today's paper confirms it…"
Peter felt the rage build up inside of him, and he clenched his fists, "Yeah, no shit, Sherlock, but how the hell does that have anything to do with my job?!"
Max replied, "I don't want a brutal, murdering, alien-possessed anti-hero working here… Just be glad I'm not turning you in…"
Max's few previous words sank into Peter's head, and then he snapped, "THAT'S NOT FAIR! THAT'S OFF THE JOB! AND TURN ME IN?! DID YOU FORGET WHO SAVED YOU FROM YOUR DEATH?!"
Max did not reply.
Peter exhaled through his nose to try and control his frustration, "What happens to the spider-lab?!"
Max spoke, "I'll handle that. You don't worry about it… now if you'd please… get out of my building."
Peter scoffed and rolled his eyes, then spoke frustrated, "I don't need this job anyway… But just remember it's your loss."
As Peter got up to leave, Max quickly spoke, "I already told you the tests did nothing. And look - the alien's already changed you… Just come back to us when you're back with the classic."
Peter stopped walking for a moment to reply. " We don't need this job! And we are perfectly fine without it!" He continued to his office to gather his belongings, swiping a few things from the spider-lab. Then he continued to exit the building.
- Times Square - 10:45AM -
Felicia walked out of the store, with her handbag hanging over her left arm, and her holding her shopping bags with her right, which was full of brand new clothing, which were very stylish and cool. Other types of clothing included bright red dresses and the shopping also included new shoes and high-heels, and she also bought herself a new make-up kit. She was currently wearing ripped blue skinny-jeans, with expensive trainers and a plain, black crop top, with ruby lipstick and black eyeliner. She too, had been informed on the news about their alter-egos wanted in custody, but she wasn't as angry as Peter. To be completely honest, she wasn't angry at all; she was used to the life of a criminal, and she enjoyed it for the thrill of it. As she walked through times square, her hips naturally swayed, and she was eyed at by many men, and she knew it. She didn't care though; she just shrugged it off; in all honestly she enjoyed the attention; it made her feel better about herself; it made her feel wanted. She continued her shopping spree, stopping for a coffee along the way.
- Queens - 10:45AM -
"Great." Peter angrily sighed as SpiderMan, perched high on top of a building, his eyes narrowed behind his symbiotic, white glare on his black mask. He surveyed the city, still fuming from Max stripping away his job. He swung from building to building, crawling from wall to wall, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, and every time he ever swung low enough to skim the streets of New York, at least one civilian screamed his name in terror and shock, causing an uproar of screaming and fear throughout the streets. Sick of it, Peter web-zipped himself up from a building, shooting high into the sky, and landed on a rooftop with force, cracking the stone structure on the roof.
"Great," he began, "Felicia's gone out and we don't know where. Great. The city has turned against us. Great. And now we've lost our job. Great."
Black mentally replied, "The way I see it, we do not need a job. We can always get money whenever and how ever we want. Besides, we're an avenger, remember?"
Peter began to parkour to another building, and mentally, he replied, "Yeah, well *I* doubt they'd still call us one of them if they ever found out about us. And, well *I* don't want *us* to seem like criminals. Well, more than we already are to the public, anyway. I guess J. J. Jameson's a happy man."
"Right," Black began, "We can sell photos to Jameson can't we? And SpiderMan is seen as a criminal… imagine the pay he'd give us."
Peter did not reply, but instead continued scouting for crime.
- Queens - 01:16PM -
Peter had just escaped the police trying not to take a single bullet from their firing, after stopping and brutalising rapists in an alleyway, tying up their broken bodies in thick, black webbing, with the victim gone running. He found himself perched on a rooftop a block away from the event, when he felt a sensation in the back of his head.
At the last second, Peter located the danger and he flipped over the incoming projectile, as the arrow fired at him scratched the skin of his suit, cutting through the symbiote, then plunged into the edge of the rooftop. He landed after his somersault to face his attacker, as the symbiote began to reattach itself over the cut on his torso, completely covering his white skin and looking like a brand new, untorn and clean costume.
Peter found himself looking at a well-built, muscular figure, who had a bow and arrow in hand, ready to fire. He had a mask on his face which was a white skull with white dots resembling eyes in the blackness of his sockets, and the figure wore a plain black T-shirt that stuck to his body like a second skin, and the black outfit continued over his legs. The figure had white boots and elbow-length gloves, and a white, hooded cape. In addition, he had a gun holster strapped to his right leg just above his knee, and wore a utility belt. He had a sword holster belt, with the sword hanging in the case
next to his left leg, and he had a quiver for his arrows, with a circular shield over his left arm. Tony Masters, a.k.a. Taskmaster, drew and fired another arrow, which was barely dodged by Peter at the last second before it hit, the arrow crashing into the stone of a roof.
"Taskmaster!" Peter growled, as he landed perfectly after his dodge.
"SpiderMan," he simply replied, drawing another arrow and leaping into the air.
Taskmaster drew closer to Peter, firing another arrow at him, with Peter flipping to the side to dodge the projectile. However, this time Taskmaster landed on Peter while he was in mid-air, ramming him into the ground and pinning him there. From his belt, Taskmaster drew a dagger and held it to Peter's throat, and he sighed.
"I expected a lot more fight from you, SpiderMan. You should know by now I can learn all your moves as soon as I see them." Taskmaster mocked, deepening the edge of the blade to his throat, cutting through the symbiote.
Peter replied, still pinned down, "Nobody said it was over, Tasky."
Before Taskmaster finished him off with a quick swipe of the blade to his throat, symbiote tendrils flailed off of Peter, stunning Taskmaster, who got up off of him. The flailing tendrils grew larger and collapsed onto Peter, wrapping him in them simultaneously as Peter kicked up onto his feet. The tendrils cocooned around him, and within a minute, he became Venom.
"Interesting," Taskmaster began to speak as he observed, having never fought a symbiote and host before. "Your costume intrigues me, SpiderMan. I would enjoy peeling it off you, but all I need is your head." Taskmaster threw aside his bow and quiver to lose weight for better mobility, and he brandished his sword to go with his sturdy, osmium shield.
Peter spoke in his double voice, "We know you're a mercenary for hire. Who sent you!?" He extended his claws and hunched his back, getting into an offensive position.
"Now I wouldn't be a very good mercenary if I told you that, now would I?" Taskmaster spoke, then shot forward and engaged Venom with lightning speed.
They got into a heavy, brutal fight, which lasted for minutes on end, neither side giving in. Every move Venom made Taskmaster had added to his photographic memory, then using his "photographic reflexes" to duplicate Venom's own physical attacks and use it against him, or use his memory of the moves to flawlessly dodge and counter. Having also witnessed other superheroes and villains in combat, Taskmaster also used their moves against Venom also, some of which include Captain America's combat techniques, as well as some of Iron Fist's. Taskmaster dropped his bladed weapons, knowing they were of no use if the symbiote could heal itself and the wounds, and then Taskmaster stuck to hand-to-hand combat, sneaking in a few pistol shots here and there. The fight edged in favour of Venom, who finally managed to blind Taskmaster with black webbing to avoid letting him see attacks. Brutally, Venom threw his shield miles away in the distance, and picked him up by the throat and carried him and dangled him over the edge of the rooftop, although the mercenary kept his cool, trying to pry off the webbing, but stopped to save his energy after he realised it was of no use.
Venom held him high and used his tongue to grab and whip the webbing off of Taskmaster's face, sending his green, acid-like saliva splashing around and onto Taskmaster, and, with the web removed, Venom had allowed him to speak, and, see. The black behemoth began to interrogate the restrained mercenary, as his battle-damaged body began to heal thanks to the symbiote.
"We will ask you one more time…" Venom growled, exposing his needle-like, white teeth in a sinister grin of anger, as his eyes narrowed and his face scrunched up. "Who sent you to assassinate us?!" Venom opened up his mouth a little, to let his tongue snake out with green saliva, holding it in the air around Taskmaster's head like a warning. His tongue snapped back into his mouth so he could ask, "And why!?" as he extended his claws on his free hand, and held it up, as he lashed out his snaky, wet tongue and hissed.
"Why? Because my client wants you dead and out of the way, that's why," Taskmaster replied, while looking him in the eyes, sneaking his hand around to his back pocket. Before he could grab what he was after, however, he was interrupted.
Venom snarled and threw him over his shoulder, sending smoke and dust flying in a wave as Taskmaster hit the base of the rooftop, landing face first. His back was towards the anti-hero, who fired a string of web, tying Taskmaster's hands together like handcuffs. Within a couple of seconds, Venom had rolled him from his stomach onto his back and had him pinned on the ground with has hand over the mercenary's torso, making him immobile.
"Who was it?!" Peter tried to punch his face once, using his fist as a battering ram. Quickly, however, Taskmaster moved his head to the side to dodge each attack. Pissed off from the symbiote's effects, Venom picked him up and threw him again with the same speed and momentum, with the same motion over his shoulder. Taskmaster, using his photographic reflexes, used Peter's own movements against him, and with perfect timing from remembering the last throw, when he hit the ground he used his feet to spring himself backwards into a flip, landing in a backwards roll and stopping in a crouched position while skidding backwards for a couple of seconds with one knee on the ground, all while still having his hands tied behind his back.
"Big mistake, SpiderMan," Taskmaster spoke, standing up with his hands restrained behind his back, "You should know by now I can remember all your moves… And use them against you. I do not need my arms to fight and kill you. You should have killed me when you had the chance."
Although Peter spilled Taskmaster's blood, he was no match for Taskmaster's photographic reflexes, which slowed down the anti-hero very much. The fight continued, with Taskmaster gaining the upper hand overtime as they transitioned from rooftop to rooftop, Taskmaster beginning to slowly overpower Venom.
- Unknown Location - 01:43PM -
"Sir, this is a live feed of the assassination attempt in Queens. The serum seems to be working; Taskmaster's powers and durability have been greatly enhanced," a female voice spoke. The same voice from before.
"Yes, I can see that," the male voice spoke, watching the live feed on the laptop carefully. "It seems we have won," the figure spoke, smiling with a sinister look.
The female voice replied in confusion, "What-who is that?" As she pointed to the very corner of the screen, where there was a red and black tiny dot in the distant rooftops, looking as if it was aiming at the battle scene through a scope.
"An interference," the male figure spoke as he stood up, slamming down the laptop lid in frustration. "A very, very bad interference."
- Queens Rooftops - 01:44PM -
Venom took another heavy bash to his jaw, and he stumbled backwards, angry and annoyed, and very surprised that he was losing, as Taskmaster came in front of him in a charge, leaping into a fly kick onto Venom's chest. Taskmaster himself knew Venom was too powerful to knock out on his own, so he instead tried to inflict pain while tiring him out. Obviously though, Peter put up a difficult fight, and did obviously manage to knock Taskmaster on his ass a couple of times, using his spider-sense to his advantage, as well as the symbiote's amplifications on his powers and his new symbiotic abilities.
In the middle of their combat, Peter's body gave in and he knew he would collapse soon, but the symbiote on the other hand was restless. They both knew, Peter and the symbiote, that they were getting nowhere in the battle like this; they were too slow, so they returned to their normal SpiderMan self, losing strength but gaining speed and mobility. Taskmaster overpowered him, the symbiote decided it was enough, and completely took control over his host's body. Even yet, although Peter rested and spectated as the symbiote took control, it still took a while before the tables turned, Peter slowly regaining his energy. Taskmaster's hands were still tied, and the skilled mercenary put up a very decent fight, but was once again floored
and pinned by the agile, black beast of an anti-hero, who strapped him down with a thick belt of webbing across his chest.
Even through all of his seriousness with the interrogations, Peter just couldn't get past all of his wise-cracks and puns.
"Get it through your thick skull!" he yelled, straddling his waist and putting up a fist in an attempt to intimidate him, although Taskmaster stared straight at his face and looked intimidating himself, his white eyes sharp and piercing in the eye sockets of his skull mask.
Peter's knuckles cracked as he tightened his fist, and he demanded once more, "Tell us who sent you!"
Taskmaster remained silent, but from the corner of his eye, he too had seen a tiny, red and black speck in the distance, and he kept a straight face. From the speck of red, a bright white light flashed, and Peter's head ached, and he speedily flipped off of Taskmaster and located the danger. At the same time, a gunshot sound had gone off with the flash of light, the bullet rippling through the air, and Taskmaster knew it was coming for him even before the gun went off, so as Peter flipped, he shifted his body to the side as the bullet hit him. This caused the bullet to graze his suit, cutting through the material, but also slicing through the webbing that binded him to the ground, allowing him to peform a kick-up to get up, his hands still tied, although blood seeped out of the graze on his body. Him and Peter both diverted their attention from eachother, and shifted it to the sniping point, the figure still lying prone on his stomach. Taskmaster already knew who it was, yet Peter was clueless.
- Sniping Point - 01:57PM -
"Shit!" the male spoke upon missing his kill on his target, still prone, dropping his x12 scoped, thermal sniper-rifle, to pull his mask up above his nose. He pulled out and stuff his face full of an XL meat-filled, chilli chimichanga. "Oh!" He spoke, with his mouth full of food, "This shit is so good!" and he continued to chew and swallow his snack. If you haven't guessed already, the red and black costumed, foul-mouthed, chimichanga-loving, weapon-carrying, fourth-wall-breaking, merc with the mouth, Wade
Winston Wilson, aka. Deadpool, was lying prone on his stomach, up on that rooftop, yet again on another contract assassination.
Wade had finished the chimichanga in his mouth and had swallowed it, then picked up his sniper rifle once again, and he looked down the scope. He was startled for a moment as he suddenly saw a large black foot rocketing towards him, and he fired another shot as Peter slung himself at Wade, in an attempt to fly-kick him as Venom. Wade had dodged the move last second, stepping to the right and turning his body to the side as the black and white bomber crashed onto the rooftop where Wade stood seconds before.
Wade looked at the behemoth, and pulled out his katanas and stood still in a combat position, then joked, "Jesus! Wow! Look at yourself! I may be ugly, but you! You are UG-LEE!"
Venom stared at him, then he reverted back to his normal size, then he said, "What are you doing, here, Wade?"
Wade held his katanas defensively up in the air by his sides, then spoke, "Holy shit… Spidey? Back in black, huh? That suit come with a buy one get one free by any chance? Because I could really use a-"
Their conversation was interrupted when Taskmaster struck Wade from behind with a ta ckle, forcefully slamming his body into Wade, sending them both rolling on the roof, but they each got up and looked at eachother, ready to engage at any time. Peter unintentionally ended up siding with Wade, and the two fought Taskmaster, who's hands were still tied.
The battle scene shifted from rooftop to rooftop, Peter getting a few shots in, as well as Wade, who left Taskmaster with a few bullet holes and cuts, but none fatal. And, Wade being the annoying merc with the mouth that he is, just wouldn't stop talking either, making wise-cracks almost once every minute. The fighters ended up on a rooftop to an electrical generator.
"Yo! Tasky!" Wade jokingly yelled, slashing at Taskmaster once more, who barely dodged the blade.
"So what kind of a name is 'Taskmaster' anyway?" Wade asked, getting back up off the ground after taking one of his own kicks from Taskmaster.
"And 'Deadpool' is any better?" the hooded mercenary replied, fighting off a venomised Peter, learning his moves and using them against him.
"Who cares? Deadpool is cool!" he replied, firing an RPG Taskmaster, with the rocket streaming like a javelin, with it shooting speedily in mid-air.
"Wilson…" Taskmaster started, running towards Venom. "Just… shut up already!" Taskmaster ran vertically up onto Venom's torso, kicking off of his face and into a backflip. The force of the kick-off on his face had so much momentum in it that it dazed Venom and caused the anti-hero to stumble backwards. Mid-flip, Taskmaster gracefully dodged the rocket, landing perfectly before Wade. The rocket, on the other hand, made heavy and dangerous impact with Peter, sending trails of smoke fuming off his body, and although the symbiote absoeabsorbed the damage that it could, Venom still dropped backwards. Venom was in pain, and he smashed through the roof and landed into the electrical generator, breaking it and causing a blackout. Peter was also very unlucky, and he had been zapped and electrocuted by the electricity, knocking him out as he reverted back to his normal form, with the remaining glass from the ceiling above him dropped down.
Deadpool holstered the RPG on his back, and stood up from his crouching position. "Haha! Did you see that!? He wasn't my target, but that! That, was awesome!"
Taskmaster was bleeding and broken from previous battle damage, but that didn't stop him from continuing to fight, and he ran at Wade. "Wilson, you talk too much!"
Taskmaster slid under Wade's legs, and then he got up and skidded back to a halt on his heels. He stole a kunai from Wade's belt from behind and used it to grind against the black webbing up and down, trying to release the material from cuffing him as he fought Wade with his lower body.
Wade continued to run his mouth as the battle continued, mercenary to mercenary.
At last, Taskmaster finally sliced off the webbing that cuffed him, leaving his arms free. From behind his back, Taskmaster dropped the kunai and threw a punch to Wade's surprise, ramming a fist into his jaw, dazing him as he stole a grenade from Wade with his free hand.
"Hey! No fair!" Wade whined, rubbing his chin and jaw. "Ya know, this fight's been going on long enough! The readers are probably getting bored of this chapter! Time to stop messing around…" Wade pulled out two sais, with one in each hand.
The fight continued, and more blood had been shed on each side, Wade obviously healing, but also taking the lead. The merc with the mouth spun his sai, the three tips of each blade slashing its target. Taskmaster's photographic reflexes only got him so far against Deadpool, and then his life was finally in Wade's hands.
"So, it was nice knowing you these past years, Tasky. In fact, it was awesome knowing you. Really," Wade said, walking casually towards the bleeding and severely injured Taskmaster, who stood his ground with a hand on his ribs and another behind his back.
Wade continued, "Honestly, you've a special place in my heart. So, because you're special, the choice is yours: you can die by the gun, or I'll gut you by sword."
"So this serum I was injected with actually helped… until you showed up. I'll see you in Hell if you ever die, Wilson," Taskmaster casually replied. His focus shifted to a damaged and panting figure he saw pop-up in the corner of his eye. "You too, SpiderMan."
Peter extended his arms and was ready to fire two shots of webbing onto Deadpool, in an attempt to stop him from killing Taskmaster, in order for Peter to get his answers, but he was too late.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Three bullet holes smoked from Taskmaster's chest where the bullets penetrated his body, with blood squirting out.
"And another one dead, and another payment for Deadpool! Tasky, you should've asked the author for a better role in this fanfic. Maybe you could've been alive!" Wade spoke and chuckled, then holstered his pistol, staring at the dead body of his opponent.
As soon as Wade finished his sentence, a little 'ping' was heard as something hit the ground. Peter's spider-sense went haywire, and he searched around to locate the danger.
"Peter!" Black started, "Get us out of here, now."
Then Peter saw it - the pin of a grenade resting on the ground, and the tension in his head grew. Peter knew what was about to happen any second now, so he made a web slingshot and entered it.
Wade spoke, "Spidey? What're you-"
He was interrupted as Peter shot himself into the sky, but it was too late. The grenade blew Wade into pieces, taking off the top of the building with it. While in mid-air, Peter was caught in the radius of the blast and was sent flying into another building, knocking him out mid-air before he could react. Black took control and saved Peter from plummeting to the ground, and took his body to another rooftop. The police had already arrived at the bottom of the building, making their way up to investigate, followed by firemen.
SpiderMan was being looked over at by a familiar face, who rolled his body onto his back so he could see her.
"Hey Felicia…" Peter spoke, coughing.
"You okay, spider?" she asked.
"Yeah…" he replied, getting up off the ground. "We're okay." Peter kissed her then used a web and zipped himself over to the building that for caught
in the grenade blast, searching for Wade's pieces.
When he was gone, Felicia turned on her earpiece, and began to speak through it.
"I'm sorry. I was too late, boss. Taskmaster was already dead when I got here… now he's in pieces."
"Failures happen. Besides, we've got better," she heard.
"When will I get to drop the damn kissy kissy bullshit with him? This is getting annoying!" she said, tensing her eyebrows and shoulders.
"Don't worry. It'll be soon, Miss Hardy. Very, very soon…"
End of Chapter 6.